Random bits and pieces

Impressionistic side by side assessment of the Milan and Fujin

At the weekend,  Dave McCraw & David of Laid Back Bikes visited.  Dave McCraw had done a sequence of pieces on his blog on the building of the Milan & he came round for a try out.  We rode together for a circular route around 10km with me on the Fujin and Dave in the Milan with David on a Nazca Fuego, whilst Dave got used to the handling of the Milan.  He then took it for 2*10km circuits of a local piece of quiet dual carriageway and managed some impressive speeds.  I'll leave the writing of that up to him, however, it is worth reflecting on how the machines compared whilst ridden side by side.

• The Fujin feels so much faster being open and unfaired with the wind in your face etc.  It is, however, incredibly slow in comparison.  To be fair, the Milan had a far better engine fitted, but then Dave was backing off whilst acclimatising too.  I could easily put 100m into the Milan starting from standing, but this was gained back very quickly once speeds got up.  On the one occasion that I was trying to catch Dave, I'm fairly sure he was soft pedalling, but catching him was amazingly difficult.  This was on a 2% uphill.  Inside, it's not that dramatic (well, it's incredibly loud, but it doesn't feel that fast), but from outside, it looks like it's shifting.
• The Milan can climb gentle inclines with no bother, as well as short, sharp ones.  Dave dropped me on every hill, despite being in a machine weighing 22kg more.  I would need a long, >5% drag to drop him.
• The Milan doesn't really compare to a bike at all.  It was fascinating riding the Fujin after having done decent mileage exclusively in the Milan.  One can compare speed versus power input, turning circle and aerodynamics on paper, but they feel like two different types of machines.  They feel more different than an upright and a 'bent do.  Velomobiles are genuinely their own class of vehicle.  I love both, don't get me wrong, but trying to compare the two is simply not possible in terms of the experience they provide.
• Kudos to David for staying close to the Milan on it's first 10km dual carriageway circuit in order to get photos.  There are some really good shots on his Flickr photostream.
• David has some video on facebook.  There may be more to follow; watch this space.

 Extra Long Commutes

Coming home from work today, I passed "Road ahead closed" sign at a junction made complex by traffic not being sure whether it was passing or not.  My attention was on the road, so I didn't really process the sign.  Which was a pain.  1km further on, the road was closed (surprisingly!).  Closing 400m of road necessitated a 5km detour over some very lumpy roads including going back 1km on myself (I could have made this shorter, but didn't fancy the huge, fast motorway junction & 500m of road that's treated as a motorway slipway (it was actually motorway until about 18 months ago & folk haven't yet forgotten)).  I had my phone running as a bike computer today (I was running Move! Bike Computer), so have some hard stats.  The gross average was 22.5km/h.  I was stopped for a good 5 or more minutes out of 40.  The net (of stopping) average doesn't really work when there are so many stops (the second half of the first mile is solid traffic & there are more than 20 sets of traffic lights) since the acceleration and deceleration count into the average.  Given that the detour had an extra 90m of climbing and the that home is 60m higher than bike parking, In addition, I was running into a 24km/h headwind for most of the route.  Whilst this has a smaller effect on the VM than on a bike, you can still feel it quite clearly.
What was interesting about the detour was an open downhill and piloting the Milan through a moderate crosswind.  Unfortunately, these occurred at the same point.  64km/h in a crosswind is scary.  Actually, 64km/h is scary to handle the Milan at (it gets super light steering & needs handled really gently), when you throw in a sudden crosswind as the shelter goes for 150m, it requires concentration.  Fortunately, there was no traffic in either direction, so I just had to try to stay vaguely on my side of the road & avoid the kerbs, so it could have been worse.  I might try to avoid another co-occurrence of those two in future until I have worked both out pretty well.
I hate that bit of road in the wind: last time I did it with 30km/h wind on an upright, my maximum safe speed was about 15km/h, so the Milan is better, but I need some time on the flat in cross winds before I try that road again when it's breezy....
The other interesting random fact today was that the winching speed uphill (I don't mean that in a Glasgow/Vale of Leven way...) of the Milan is 10km/h.  Not a bad speed to be able to hold on 5-8% hills in a 30kg machine when out of shape: still a lot faster than walking!

Challenge Fujin SLII review

Before I start, a brief caveat: mine is over 4 years old, so there may be differences in spec now. The tiller is slightly newer, however, and was fitted for reasons that have nothing to do with this review…

I’m sure that your friendly, local Challenge dealer will be happy to advise you about current specs and older versions.

So, my SLII. Here’s the pic:

I think that this is one of the best looking recumbents out there. Challenge always design decent-looking bikes, however, this one goes a bit beyond. Most of us who ride recumbents have or have had something that looks a bit agricultural. This machine is quite happy sitting next to carbon road bikes, however, and really does attract attention.

Mine is specced with and 11-34t cassette and a 30-39-53t chainwheel. It has a 650c rear wheel and a 20”/406 ETRO front wheel. The rear wheel has 28 spokes. The front was rebuilt with 32 spokes in a cross 3 pattern due to me breaking quite a few of the original ones! It used to have Schwalbe Stelvio tyres on, but it now wears a 28mm Durano at the front and a 23mm Ultremo ZX at the back. I have noticed that Schwalbe have started making the Ultremo ZX in 406-23mm, but I have yet to get enough miles into this tyre combo to know whether the Ultremo is durable enough to trust on the front on Glasgow roads, but I will look to move in this direction if it is. The Ultremo/Durano tyre package is an improvement on the Stelvios, which I had no great love for. It’s not a night and day change, but the new tyres seem both more comfortable and faster.

I got my Fujin having had a Nazca Fuego for some time and having tried a variety of machines out. I wanted something very much the recumbent version of a road bike: speed being the main priority, with very few concessions made. The Fujin is very much in this mold: no racks, no mudguards, no suspension, no light mount and narrow tyres. I was both excited and anxious when I first rode it, since I had got used to some of these concessions and even got to like some of them (the Fuego was the first bike I ever owned with a rack, with tyres wider than 23mm, or with suspension: the rack and suspension were great and I was getting used to the wider tyres). Furthermore, I was worried how twitchy and difficult to handle it was going to be.

I picked my Fujin up in Edinburgh and went for a ride with David who had got the bike for me (& who had stayed polite through my endless queries about different bikes and different specs on these bikes). Our initial ride was to Cramond, then back into town so I could get the train home. I was quite looking forward to bike paths, since I was anticipating really struggling to control the bike at first. I really need not have worried. It is more twitchy than the Fuego, but not in an unpredictable way. It took me about 400m to get used to the differences in handling, so not that difficult. I find the handling quite difficult to describe: normally manoeuvrability comes from instability and most quick-turning bikes that I’ve ridden will give you a few scares until you are used to them. The Fujin turns very quickly & I knew immediately that it needed treated with respect, however, I can’t remember it giving many scares at all. It tells you quite quickly if you’re doing something wrong & you seem to have loads of time to correct it. Not at all like a road bike in that regard. Within a month of owning it, I had it going at 50+mph through a fairly gravelly turn without blinking. That isn’t a bike that’s hard to handle!

Saying that, I would not recommend it as a first recumbent necessarily, but with basic competence on a ‘bent, you’d probably be fine.

The other issue that a beginner would have on this bike is dealing with the speed. It is unbelievably fast. I have never ridden anything that even compares. Given that I’m rarely at full fitness, that it is immensely complimentary of its rider is very much appreciated. I still don’t like steep downhills on it since the speed racks up far too quickly for comfort, but on the flat getting up to 30mph isn’t too difficult and holding it for a few minutes is OK at a push too. There’s no fear in traffic when you can manage those speeds.

Speed on the hills is also good. Mine is about 8kg, so a wee bit above the UCI weight limit (it might fail UCI rules for other reasons though), but light enough to make big hills a lot more possible. Mine is fitted with a triple chainring & I have never used the granny ring. To be fair, I did need it once when I was blowing badly on a hill and a ramp topped 20%, but when I tried to get it, I found that the indexing was out & I couldn’t get onto the granny ring. I was fine to carry on in 39-34 on a 650c wheel, but had to grind a fair bit. I am not a climber (I’m far too big and heavy) and I stay somewhere with lots of big hills & I have only once needed the granny ring. That should really say everything you need to know about this bike’s climbing ability.

So, then, the bike is fast, it climbs well and handles brilliantly. Is there anything not to like? For me, no, but there are some wee niggles. For others these niggles would be deal breakers, but that’s probably taste.

Luggage capacity is useless. I use Radical Designs 2*7l bags & plan my days around not carrying much. I insist that all my bikes work as commuters & the Fujin only just qualifies on this count. Saying that, quite why you’d buy this bike to carry luggage on is a different question. &, if you really wanted to for some odd reason, you could always get a Novosport tailbox & get improved aerodynamics and c.40l luggage space.

The rear brake is pointless; I’d take mine off if it wasn’t a legal requirement. I really wouldn’t want a good back brake though (with the weight distribution, you’d lock the back wheel far too easily & I wouldn’t like to try power sliding this bike), it’s just that I object to carrying round a pointless brake. Even if I wouldn’t notice the difference if it were taken off. (The brake weighs nearly nothing). So there’s a rear brake that weighs almost nothing and doesn’t really work, but you wouldn’t want it to. Not really a huge problem….

Fragility. This is my summer bike & it rarely even take it out in the rain. This is partly because I’m scared that it’ll melt or dissolve and partly because I like to keep it shiny. To be fair, it is to be treated as you would treat a mid to high end road bike. It isn’t something you’d want to handle rough stuff on, but it will handle Glasgow roads fairly well & I’ve seen flatter mountain bike tracks than some of the local roads I commute on. I think it’s a lot more robust than I fear it might be, but really don’t want to find out.

I think that’s about it….

This bike does what it is designed to do incredibly well. It is quite a specialist tool, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Unless you want a generalist bike, of course. The final thing that should be considered is the thing that swung it for me: it is just so much fun to ride.  Folk who know me will know that I'm not the most demonstrative person.  I made a large whooping noise first time I accelerated this bike out of a corner.

Yep, it is that much fun to ride...

First decent ride of the year: Tak Ma Doon & Crow Road

I haven't done a decent ride for nearly 2 years now. Work and home commitments with a sequence of episodes of ill-health and injury have pretty much stopped me dead. I managed regular commuting & the occasional longer trip, but nothing particularly hilly nor especially long.
Part of the point of next year's trip & of this blog is to give me goals and a way of measuring my progress.
So, just now, I'm in about the worst shape I've been in fitness-wise for about 10 years... Things are starting to improve: with having moved, my commute has tripled in length, to 14km each way with 62/126m of climbing. With the shifts I do, I still haven't managed a full week of cycle commuting though, so there's still a lot of improvement needed.
I had the day off today & the weather was good, so I thought I'd find where I was fitness-wise. I planned a 60km route with some of my favourite roads: the Tak Ma Doon & the Crow Road, with the Carron Valley in between. The climbs couldn't be more different, but I love them both in different ways.
The Tak Ma Doon is probably my favourite road anywhere. It starts with a wee turn off the A803 in Kilsyth & hits a steep ramp almost immediately, then levels off to about 5% for a kilometre or so. Then 100m at 13%, then 300m at 3%, then 200m at 14%. It carries on like this the whole way up, with a few short sections on bends topping 20%. It's a properly vicious climb.
I find climbs like this really difficult since it's hard to get any rhythm. It's also really difficult to get any recovery from the 13+% sections which almost inevitably put you into the red...
Climbs like this demand a degree of respect & even reverence. The climb also takes you from a very urban setting to a view point with amazing views, onto a rural & remote-feeling valley. There is a sense of transcendence, in both a physical and environmental way.
Then the views from the top! On a clear day, you can see both Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh & Goatfell on Arran: the whole of the central belt lies in front of you. Today, the visibility was OK, without being great, still, there are some stunning views:


The loch in the second photo is Banton Loch: a reservoir on the site of the last decisive battle of the English Civil war, yes, 150 miles from the English border....

The Crow Road, from the North, has very similar numbers: 238m climbing at an average of 5%, compared to 270m at 6%. The difference is the consistency of the gradient. There are a couple of bends where the gradient approaches 10% for a few metres, but it's pretty much consistent the whole way through. The main difficulty with the climb is already having done the Tak Ma Doon & being tired. I like this road, but it's a different thing entirely: outstanding road surface, lots of traffic, wide road, consistent gradient....

So, what have I learnt:
-I'm not as unfit as I thought I might be;
-I've a long way to go, however, in getting properly fit;
-The Tak Ma Doon is a properly difficult climb;
-You can't hide lack of fitness on a difficult climb;
-That SPD sandals are great as commuter shoes, but really poor on steep hills;
-That I'm descending ATM with the grace of Bambi... In roller skates.... On ice... Seriously, I could take lessons from Andy Schleck in descending just now, it's something I really need to improve;
-That I'm not a good climber;
-That, despite the above point, I love difficult hills;
-That, if I ignore the 20 mins of taking/making work phone calls when my mobile phone signal came back, I managed the route in less (just) than 3 hours, so held an overall average of 20+kph....

There is a oneness that you can reach on a difficult hill: the moment before it defeats you. That oneness with the bike, with the gradient, with the pain, is something almost spiritual & is uniquely beautiful. There are very few moments in life of utter unity of purpose & thought & intent. This is why I love the Tak Ma Doon: I can have those moments thereon.

Numbers for the day:
-57.9km distance
-926 metres climbing & descending
-high point of 338m above sea level